Studies directed towards a mechanistic evaluation of inactivation of aromatase by the suicide substrates androsta-1,4-diene-3,17-diones and its 6-ene derivatives aromatase inactivation by the 19-substituted derivatives and their enzymic aromatization

An outlook on suicide enzyme inhibition and drug design

There have been recent renewed interests in the importance of suicide enzyme inhibition. The principal objective of this review is to investigate all types of suicide inhibitions for natural enzymes, artificial biocatalysts as well as therapeutic potential of enzyme suicide inhibition. It is discussed the suicide inhibition beneficial in drug design and treatments and non-beneficial achievements for some industrial enzymes such as HRP peroxidase enzyme. The design of biomimetic artificial enzymes explained to prevent inhibition by protecting the active site via environmental conditions. Suicide enzyme inhibition development can be the key mechanism against sever diseases such as SARS. In this report, suicide enzyme inactivation classes are classified based on target enzyme groups via their substrates.

Synthesis, Biological Evaluation and Docking Studies of 13-Epimeric 10-fluoro- and 10-Chloroestra-1,4-dien-3-ones as Potential Aromatase Inhibitors

Fluorination of 13-epimeric estrones and their 17-deoxy counterparts was performed with Selectfluor as the reagent. In acetonitrile or trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), 10β-fluoroestra-1,4-dien-3-ones were formed exclusively. Mechanistic investigations suggest that fluorinations occurred via SET in acetonitrile, but another mechanism was operative in TFA. Simultaneous application of N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS) and Selectfluor in TFA led to a 1.3:1 mixture of 10β-fluoroestra-1,4-dien-3-one and 10β-chloroestra-1,4-dien-3-one as the main products. The potential inhibitory action of the 10-fluoro- or 10-chloroestra-1,4-dien-3-one products on human aromatase was investigated via in vitro radiosubstrate incubation. The classical estrane conformation with trans ring anellations and a 13β-methyl group seems to be crucial for the inhibition of the enzyme, while test compounds bearing the 13β-methyl group exclusively displayed potent inhibitory action with submicromolar or micromolar IC50 values. Concerning molecular level explanation of biological activity or inactivity, computational simulations were performed. Docking studies reinforced that besides the well-known Met374 H-bond connection, the stereocenter in the 13 position has an important role in the binding affinity. The configuration inversion at C-13 results in weaker binding of 13α-estrone derivatives to the aromatase enzyme.

Synthesis of Some Novel 3,3-Ethylenedioxyandrost-7β-Acyloxy-5-Ene-17-One Derivatives as Potent Aromatase Inhibitors

3,3,17,17-Diethylenedioxyandrost-5-ene was obtained by ketalisation of androstenedione, which was oxidised with PDC and t-BuOOH to form 3,3,17,17-diethylene-dioxyandrost-5-ene-7-one. Stereoselective reduction of 3,3,17,17-diethylene-dioxyandrost-5-ene-7-one by NaBH4 in the presence of CeCl3.6H2O gave 3,3,17,17-diethylenedioxy-7β-hydroxy-androst-5-ene, which was deprotected with p-toluenesulfonic acid to gave 3,3-ethylenedioxyandrost-5-ene-7β-hydroxy and androst-4,6-dien-3,17-dione. A series of androstenedione derivatives were obtained from 3,3-ethylenedioxyandrost-5-ene-7β-hydroxy by the esterification reaction. Their structures were confirmed by MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HRMS.

Molecular docking and QSAR studies of aromatase inhibitor androstenedione derivatives

Objectives

Aromatase (CYP19) inhibitors have emerged as promising candidates for the treatment of estrogen-dependent breast cancer. In this study, a series of androstenedione derivatives with CYP19 inhibitory activity was subjected to a molecular docking study followed by quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) analyses in search of ideal physicochemical characteristics of potential aromatase inhibitors.

Methods

The QSAR studies were carried out using both two-dimensional (topological, and structural) and three-dimesional (spatial) descriptors. We also used thermodynamic parameters along with 2D and 3D descriptors. Genetic function approximation (GFA) and genetic partial least squares (G/PLS) were used as chemometric tools for QSAR modelling.

Key findings

The docking study indicated that the important interacting amino acids in the active site were Met374, Arg115, Ile133, Ala306, Thr310, Asp309, Val370, Leu477 and Ser478. The 17-keto oxygen of the ligands is responsible for the formation of a hydrogen bond with Met374 and the remaining parts of the molecules are stabilized by the hydrophobic interactions with the non-polar amino acids. The C2 and C19 positions in the ligands are important for maintaining the appropriate orientation of the molecules in the active site. The results of docking experiments and QSAR studies supported each other.

Conclusions

The developed QSAR models indicated the importance of some Jurs parameters, structural parameters, topological branching index and E-state indices of different fragments. All the developed QSAR models were statistically significant according to the internal and external validation parameters.

Probing the binding pocket of the active site of aromatase with 2-phenylaliphatic androsta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione steroids

A series of 2-phenylaliphatic-substituted androsta-1,4-diene-3,17-diones (6) as well as their androstenedione derivatives (5) were synthesized as aromatase inhibitors to gain insights of structure-activity relationships of varying the alkyl moiety (C(1) to C(4)) of the 2-phenylaliphatic substituents as well as introducing a methyl- or trifluoromethyl function to p-position of a phenethyl moiety to the inhibitory activity. The inhibitors examined showed a competitive type inhibition. The 2-phenpropylandrosta-1,4-diene 6c was the most powerful inhibitor (K(i): 16.1nM) among them. Compounds 6c along with the phenethyl derivative 6b caused a time-dependent inactivation of aromatase (k(inact): 0.0293 and 0.0454min(-1) for 6b and 6c, respectively). The inactivation was prevented by the substrate androstenedione, and no significant effect of l-cysteine on the inactivation was observed in each case. Molecular docking of the phenpropyl compound 6c to aromatase was conducted to demonstrate that the phenpropyl group orients to a hydrophobic binding pocket in the active site to result in the formation of thermodynamically stable enzyme-inhibitor complex.

Aromatase inactivation by 2-substituted derivatives of the suicide substrate androsta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione

To gain the structure-activity relationship of Delta(1)-androstenediones (Delta(1)-ADs) as mechanism-based inactivator of aromatase, series of 2-alkyl- and 2-alkoxy-substituted Delta(1)-ADs (6 and 9) as well as 2-bromo-Delta(1)-AD (14) were synthesized and tested. All of the inhibitors examined blocked aromatase in human placental microsomes in a competitive manner. In a series of 2-alkyl-Delta(1)-ADs (6), n-hexyl compound 6f was the most powerful inhibitor with an apparent K(i) value of 31 nM. The inhibitory activities of 2-alkoxy steroids 9 decreased in relation to length of the alkyl chain up to n-hexyloxy group (K(i): 95 nM for methoxy 9a). All of the alkyl steroids 6 along with the alkoxy steroid 9, except for the ethyl and n-propyl compounds 6b and 6c, caused a time-dependent inactivation of aromatase. The inactivation rates (k(inact): 0.020-0.084 min(-1)) were comparable to that of the parent compound Delta(1)-AD. The inactivation was prevented by the substrate AD, and no significant effect of l-cysteine on the inactivation was observed in each case. The results indicate that the 2-hexyl compound 6f act as the most powerful mechanism-based inactivator of aromatase among Delta(1)-AD analogs and may be submitted to the preclinical study in estrogen-dependent breast cancer.